Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani walks to first base after walking in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Houston.
12:42 JST, July 27, 2024
HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez struck out 10 batters in 6 1/3 innings, Alex Bregman and Jon Singleton hit home runs and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 on Friday night.
Bregman hit a solo home run to left in the third inning and Singleton hit a 403-foot two-run home run to the second deck in right in the fourth inning.
Joey Loperfido had an RBI single in the second and made an excellent leaping grab to rob Shohei Ohtani of extra bases in the third. Mauricio Dubón added an RBI double in the eighth.
Valdez (9-5) scattered four hits in his fourth straight win. He has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts.
Ohtani was 2-for-3 with a walk, eliminating the Dodgers for the fifth time this season.
After Ohtani singled to lead off the game, Valdez retired 16 batters in a row, including the last six by strikeout, before Gavin Lux singled with one out in the sixth. Valdez then loaded the bases, but he struck out Teoscar Hernández and forced a flyout for Andy Pages to end the threat.
The Dodgers had runners on the corners with one out in the seventh inning, but Bryan Abreu struck out Nick Ahmed and Bregman tagged out Kiké Hernández, who overran second base on an infield single by Lux.
Gavin Stone (9-4) gave up four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Stone gave up four runs for the third time in his last four starts.
